Cheesecake - Peppermint

Bold italic = suggestions and notes that you might want to take a look at before you start...

Crust

• 1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients

• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I suggest using peppermint OIL)
  
• 1/3 cup 1-inch-diameter hard red-and-white-striped peppermint candies, crushed

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar (can be increased to 1/4 c for extra sugary goodness - highly recommended)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

METHOD

For crust:
Wrap outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with aluminum foil. Finely grind cookies with sugar in processor. Add butter, process to blend. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

For Filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in half and half, then vanilla and peppermint extracts. Stir in crushed peppermint candies. Pour filling into crust.

Bake cheesecake until filling is set in center and edges are puffed, about 50 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool 10 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

For Topping:
Stir sour cream, sugar and extracts in small bowl to blend. Pour mixture over hot cheesecake , covering completely. Return cheesecake to oven and bake until top begins to set, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Using small knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Remove pan sides. Garnish cake with peppermint candies.

• Use a 10" springform pan because it may not cook properly or all the way through.
• I suggested using peppermint oil because if you want a bit more of a minty taste, that's the way to go. If not, stick to the original peppermint extract.
• You can also add 1/2 c of mini chocolate chips to the batter as well - some friends suggested I try that...and it rocks.
• It is very important to have your ingredients (cream cheese, eggs, etc) at ROOM TEMP. I cannot stress that enough.
• Do not add the peppermint candies until you are ready to serve, otherwise they will melt.